Bankruptcies, Defaults and Insolvency Proceedings in Spain and Italy, 16th – 17th Centuries

This volume explores the economic and financial contexts behind a period of large-scale bankruptcies in Europe across the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. With a particular focus on Spanish and Italian case studies, contributions analyse numerous aspects of failure and insolvency during this time. Despite growing contemporary interest in economic crises—particularly in the aftermath of 2008—the history of bankruptcy practices and the responsibilities of financial actors within the context of early globalisation remains largely underexplored. This volume responds to that need, offering a detailed, archivally grounded and theoretically robust investigation into parallels that exist in early modern Europe. Drawing out comparative analyses between modern and early modern financial crises, the book illuminates how early modern states developed systems of guarantees in tandem with the growth of mercantile capitalism, and covers questions including public debt management, financial transparency, the accountability of economic actors, and the relationship between political and economic power. This book will be a fascinating read for scholars of early modern financial and economic history.